Congress’ dilemma on the links of Ahmed Patel and the fugitive offender Nitin Sandesara

Nitin Sandesara, an absconding director of Gujarat-based Pharma Company which is being probed by ED and CBI in 50-billion bank fraud case, may have fled Nigeria. Last month, he was arrested by the Dubai police. According to reports, Nitin Sandesara and other members of the family including brother Chetan Sandesara and sister-in-law Diptiben Sandesara have taken refuge in Nigeria.

India does not have any extradition treaty or Mutual Assistance Treaty (MAT) with Nigeria that’s why bringing them back to India would be difficult. Indian Investigative agencies have faced this problem in many cases including Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi.

According to a Times of India report, an officer, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “There were reports that Nitin Sandesara was detained by UAE authorities in Dubai in the second week of August. It was incorrect information. He was never detained in Dubai. He and other family members probably left for Nigeria much before that.”
Now, the Congress ecosystem is latching onto the entire episode to target Modi government and also alleging that it is the Modi government which provided them escape route. The Congress party in a press release claimed that as many as 23 persons have escaped under the Modi government. They also released a list of such people however their list only have 19 names. They have deliberately omitted four names.

So, now the question is who are these four and why have their names not been included in the list of bank defaulters released by the Congress. Three names- Nitin Sadesara, brother Chetan Sandesara and his wife Dipti Sandesara- are in good book with Congress strongman and Sonia’s confidante Ahmed Patel.

Nitin Sandesara’s company- Sterling Biotech Ltd- has been under the scanner as it is alleged that the company took loans of over Rs. 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, but the loan has turned into non-performing asset (NPA). The Times Now news reported, quoting senior ED officials, that the Sandesara group allegedly cheated several banks and its total outstanding debt against banks and investors may go beyond Rs 10,000 crore.
It was in 2011 that for the first time Nitin and Chetan Sandesara came under the radar of investigating agencies. Income tax raid at pharmaceutical firm Sterling Biotech had led to the recovery of a diary which allegedly had a list of payoffs to several high-profile people including politicians and their relatives, tax officials and a senior police officer.

The ED further broadened the scope of its investigation, during its probe the name of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also surfaced. In August, the ED told a Delhi court that it has evidence of alleged bribe of Rs 25 lakh delivered at the residence of senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member, Ahmed Patel.

The ED maintained that they had recorded the statement of a man called Rakesh Chandra who said that he worked as a cash courier for Ranjit Malik aka Johny. Rakesh Chandra also spoke about delivering 25 lakh cash to 23, Mother Teresa Crescent Road. It is the official residence of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

ED officials also told the court that along with witness statement they also have “telephonic chats and financial transactions” as proof to back up the charges in the case.

Ahmed Patel’s son in law-Irfan Siddiqui- and son Faisal are also named in the money transactions with Nitin Sandesara and Chetan Sandesara. A Sandesara group employee, Sunil Yadav, has admitted that he delivered bags of cash to Ahmed Patel’s son-in-law’s house.

Sunil Yadav also confessed to ED that he handed cash to Ahmed Patel’s son- Faisal Patel’s driver- and that cash was to be delivered to Faisal Patel on behalf of Chetan Sandesara. He also revealed that Ahmed Patel’s residence would be called as ‘Headquarters 23’ by Sandesara.

Having said that, it looks like the Congress party in its pursuit to highlight Modi government’s failure to bring in another economic offender, Nitin Sandesara, to justice has ended up scoring a self-goal. Not including Nitin’s name who is a close associate of Ahmed Patel and Sanjay Bhandari who is a close associate of Robert Vadra in the list of bank defaulters is also a big mistake and no less than scoring a self-goal. In fact, when it comes to speaking on matters related to corruption the Congress should be the last one.

While the CBI and ED are closing on and are expediting the investigation of the scam, it is very likely that Ahmed Patel would be arrested. This could be a major blow to the Congress as he is a close confidant of Sonia Gandhi and he was also recently appointed as the treasurer of the Congress party ahead of 2019 general elections. If the charges against Ahmed Patel are proved and he is arrested then the Congress party would be in a serious trouble considering the power and influence of Ahmed Patel both inside and outside of the Congress party. Ahmed Patel’s likely arrest would severely dent the organizational capacity of the Congress ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Interestingly, for Congress, it cannot raise the issue of Sterling Biotech’s scam without implicating Ahmed Patel who has been named by several accused in the case.